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Monday, May 16, 2005

GOOD FOR A SOUNDBITE...AND NOTHING MORE

Again, the Orwellian nature of what passes for the Federal Government these days, continues to boggle the minds of sane individuals like me. So, every now and then, I have to post a list of issues, concerns, and the like - which our Commander-in-Chief uses when it's convenient, and discards when it's necessary.For example:I've noticed that the President is quick to denounce statements or actions that are inherently and blatently racist (i. e. Sen. Trent Lott's effusive praise of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond), while posing with African-American school children reading "My Pet Goat" while Saudi Arabians are flying hijacked jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Yet, we all know and have factual proof that "No Child Left Behind" is leaving every child in public school behind. You won't tell people how school vouchers really work; that a family will still have to pony up at least 50% - 80% of the tuition or fees that the school vouchers won't cover.Good for a sound-bite. The explanation of the differences? Not so good for a sound-bite.While governor of Texas, Bush abandoned the African-American community when they needed him the most - not to mention passing up the opportunity to make a strong stand against racism, when he failed to respond to the hate crime and murder perpetuated againt James Byrd when three racist thugs tied him to the back of their pickup truck and dragged him down the road for sport. I would think GeeDubya would have been banging down the doors to sign a bill into law that would have imposed harsh penalties for hate crimes. If Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson could see the need to denounce this heinous act, why didn't Governor Bush? And what does the President do in response to the pleas of the African-American community? According to James Byrd's nephew, he asked then Governor Bush to support the Hate Crime Legislation in the Texas Legislature. Bush told him "No".The Governor's refusal to support hate crime legislation - not good for a sound-bite.I'm going to dig a little further, if you don't mind. Stay with me, now.GeeDubya supports equality for minorities by (a) eliminating affirmative action, and (b) refusing to support hate crimes legislation, but (c) he'll cop a pose kissing a minority baby, or reading to them for a photo-op faster than a New York minute.That's good enough for a sound-bite. Posing with the babies and children, while promoting "Healthy Skies" or "No Child Left Behind", that is.Or take Karla Faye Tucker, the condemned murderer/converted Christian, upon whom Bush signed her death warrant in the face of her literally begging for her life to be spared. She wasn't asking to be pardoned or granted clemency - she was asking to spend the rest of her life in prison, winning others to Christ. Now, granting her request would have made a very good sound-bite and further facilitated Bush's image as a "compassionate conservative".And, he mocked her as he signed the papers condemning her to die by lethal injection. Not good for a sound-bite; mocking her, that is. We have the pundit blowhard, Tucker Carlson, for spilling the beans on that one, don't we? Never would have heard about it otherwise.Better yet, ask the President where was his concern for his wife on last Thursday, when the White House, Capitol Hill and elsewhere, were evacuated for 36 minutes, and rather than find out if your wife and daughters are safe, you continue on your bike ride in Maryland. That's not good for a sound-bite, either.However, when the Fristdamentalists, members of Congress and your brother, the Governor of Florida, decide to "save" the life of a brain-dead, 15-years comatose woman named Terri Schiavo, by ramming through legislation during a "midnight run" session in Congress, you decided THAT was important enough to interrupt your vacation and hightail it back to Washington to sign the bill into law. Good enough for a sound-bite, Mr. President.Where was this concern on August 6, 2001, when you received a Presidential Daily Briefing from current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike U. S."? As I recall, Bush didn't interrupt his vacation then, did he? Would 9/11 have been prevented if he had? To interrupt his vacation for Terri Schiavo, that was good for a sound bite. To interrupt your vacation to protect America from a terrorist attack on American soil...well, not quite sound-bite worthy, huh?And let's not forget that Bush conveniently forget about that "do-not-resuscitate" bill he signed into law when he was Governor of Texas, and so does the MSM. A bill which consigns a person to death, despite the protests of their loved ones. Espicially if they can't afford to pay the hospital for life support efforts. And he calls himself the President that wants his legacy known as facilitating a "culture of life". Where was his "culture of life" concern for Sun Hudson? You remember him - he was an African-American baby all of six months old. His mother protested at removing the tubes that kept him alive; only to have her protests fall on deaf ears, thanks to the current President of these United States.That's good for a sound-bite, too. But explaining why the "culture of life" was necessary for Terri Schiavo and not for Sun Hudson, well, that probably wouldn't be a good sound bite, would it? He'd have to address the underlying racial element, wouldn't he? Explaining away racism is never a good sound bite under any circumstances, except when one is denouncing it.Let's dig a little deeper, shall we? How about when Bush was Governor of Texas, and decided he wanted to be President? He had to start campaigning and his travels took him to Bob Jones University - a school that lost its' tax exemption status because of its' policies against interracial dating. In fact, when his visit came to light, he quickly denounced it - yet he was continued to be seen in association with Bob Jones, Jr. and other decendants of Bob Jones before his selection as President.Good for a sound bite, I guess, when you denounce Bob Jones' University practices in this area of social justice. But not much more than that.Maybe I'm wrong, or misguided, but it appears to me that while this President is comfortable with saying the right things regarding racism, sexism, hate crimes, injustice - he is equally comfortable in the company of those who perpetuate all the issues and societal injustices he is so quick to denounce in public, because it sounds good enough for sound-bites to the media. The MSM, who are so drunk on the Kool-Aid it's easier for them to sleep on the job in their Kool-Aid soaked haze, than actually get up, investigate and report real news, which, more often than not, translates to reporting the truth, about this Administration and the leaders who are operating it. It would explain why the "Smoking Gun" memo about Bush, Blair and their decision to attack Iraq almost a year before deploying troops, cost Blair a sizable amount of his party majority in Parliament last week, when it was revealed in Britain, but it took almost two weeks before the LA Times broke their silence on it here in America.It would also explain why Newsweek got bullied into essentially retracting the truth by the White House when they reported about abuses which led to rioting in Afghanistan, and their reporting was factual, truthful and not good enough for a sound-bite that could be spun by O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Scarborough.The President of the United States; he's good for a sound-bite, and nothing more when it comes to the things that matter.

About Me

I'm a concerned patriot who's tired of the attacks on the Constitution, aided and abetted by pseudo-Democrats. While I started out in Oakland, California, where I grew up, and my political activist's journey began, it has taken me to the Nation's Capitol, where I'm still involved in defending the rights of the poor and working-class American. And that starts with Getting Rid of the Democratic Leadership Council and faux-Democrats out of public office, where they do nothing but cater to corporate interests and try to act like Republicans, which further hurts the working-class and the poor.